connecting a notebook

Hi All
I have a number of questions, First I hope this is the right form?

My wife has a new HP notebook and I would like to set up a wireless connection.
I have a ActionTec DSL modem with wireless gateway. (My PC is connected to it with a Ethernet connection.)

Can I also connect her notebook to it?
Will she have her own IP address?
And the big question, can I get some "basic" instructions on how to go about getting it connected?

I have never done a wireless connection before, so I don't have a clue on how to go about it.

Thanks
Geri

 

Connecting a Laptop Via Wireless

Geri ,

connecting a laptop with wireless is fairly routine now and Windows XP has a built in wireless utility program.
think of the connection as being a radio with a radio transmitter ( the router or what you are most likely calling the gateway" and the wireless network adapter being the receiver.
The frequency generally is the same as standard 2.4 Ghz cordless phones.
Cordless phones and wi fi seem to be able to co exist together but you may want to get a newer 5.8 Ghz phone which operates in a diffirent band entirely.
The standards are the older b ( rated at max of 11 mbs) and the newer g standard which in a way you can think of as an enhanced b . It is said to run at 54 mbs. Really due to overhead the transmission is 1/2 of those stated speeds and drops off rapidly with distance. I always laugh at the pitch of the salesman at big box stores for faster and faster wireless speeds. Unless you are transferring large files between computers on your network or streaming multimedia even the b speeds are overkill compared to even your broadband internet connection.
If your wife's laptop is fairly new the antenna of the wireless adapter will be in the lid of the computer. Otherwise for convenience it may be a PCMCI card slot wireless adapter or a USB model. The reception of the lid based adapter with a large antenna in the lid are quite good compared to the little antenna at the end of the PCMCIA models.
The router acts as the traffic cop in your network. It hands out an ip to the computers on the network and routes traffic between the two networks of your internet connection and the computers on your network as well as between computers on your network. You can use most routers and most adapters together as they are standardized - that is if they two are setup for each other. Major router manufactures are Linksys and D-Link although all brands are pretty good.
You enter most routers with a web based interface usually entering a 192.168.x.x number. Make sure the proxy setting on your browser is unchecked . Default account and passwords are in your manual. If the router has been used before you can set it back to factory defaults by holding the reset button in the back of the router with a pin.
You will have to set up the router to your internet connection and for your network. Enter the web based control panel of the router. Have your DSL account information handy. The connection type is called poppe ( or something like that escapes me at present). There may be a wizard in the router setup or a setup disk with the router. You will have to enter your isp dsl account number and isp password which most likely is diffirent than your email passwords. Next you will set up your wireless connection. There will be the name of the network ( the SSID). This is the name the router wireless will broadcast as the name of your network. The default SSIDs are "Linksys" of "Wireless " for Linksys or the word "Default" for D-Link and many other brands. It is often a good idea to change the SSID from default values . It you wish you can turn off the wireless beacon once you are all set up and knowledgable so others cannot see it to easily connect to your router . However to start to make life easier for you to connect it may be a wise idea to leave the beacon broadcast on.
Just one note if you change the SSID. Don't change it to something readily discernible - for example your address phone , last name or phone number or something identifiable. For example if you are the only two story house in your block it is not a wise idea to call the ssid "upstairs ".
Next you have a choice of whether the encryption in the router is turned on. If encryption is turned on it is one more step to log on. But it will prevent others from logging onto your network ( hopefully). If you have someone in your area who can break the wireless encrypryption good for them. First of all they will have no shortage of open wireless networks in your area to choose from. It is generally quoted that 60% are open with their encryption turned off so that with good reception anyone can log on.
Secondly if they have the skills to break encryption this is probably the least of your problems. Generally you create a code of digits and numbers either itself or through a key word generator in the router and / or card. The common encryption standards available in most routers are 1) WEP ( which is available in a smaller 64 bit key and a more secure 128 bit key ( with more digits to enter twice) and a more secure WPA standard.
Next to the laptop. Depending on which wireless utilty is set up on the laptop ( either the Windows XP wireless utility or the manufacture's) you scan for the network, select it and then connect. If there is encryption enabled on your router you will then be asked for the encryption code key.
That is all for the most part.
The range of most wireless routers is quoted at 300 feet indoors and 1000 feet outdoors. The biggest problem by far is interference form neighbour's routers. You may want to change the channel from the standard default of channel 6. Channels 1 and 11 are the two next best bets although it is generally trial and error on channel choice.
Hope this helps. Have fun ! If your wife travels with the laptop she can connect the wireless card to other routers in the same manner. Rather amazing all in all.

hope this explains most of it


good instructions for router setup with diagrams can be found at

http://www.portforward.com/routers.htm

 

Also there is a very good network wireless utilty program called "Network Magic" to make network setup and home networking easier.
You can download it at www.networkmagic.com
The first 30 days are a premium version with network printer and file sharing abilites . After that there it reverts to a more basic still very functional non premium version.
There is another product from another company but the name escapes me at the moment.

 

Hi visionof

Well most of this was way over my head.

I'm guessing that I need a router?

I'm way lost here Did you happen to see the "basic" instructions

I really don't understand. my wifes notebook has wireless capability and my modem has a antenna and a wireless light (which is not lit up btw).

Is there not just an easy way for her notebook and the modem to see each other? and there for connect?

Maybe i will have to call my ISP and see if I need to do anything to the modem as far as setup

Geri

 

visionof, GREAT explanation ,
Can we (meaning you, because I don't have such experience ) give Geri a stepwise series of tests.
Some I would suggest are to setup the network with the notebook in the same room of the house (Geri, the wireless signals may "drop out" with extended or blocked pathways).
To run the network "wizard" go to Control Panel.
Look at the information (manuals) provided with the hardware.
You have a notebook with wireless capability and a "desktop" with a wireless modem. One of the things visionof is saying is that you may need a wireless router.

Geri, check the information at the modem supplier's website. Does it have network capabilities? Does it need an interface such as a router to allow other machines to connect?

Maybe I have confused things further, hope not

Matt

 

Hi
I have it all set up.
I Googled my modem 'wireless setup" and there was instructions on enabling the wireless connection and then her notebook "found" the actiontec wireless connection and the rest was easy.

Thanks for the help.
Geri

 

Good one Geri

Double check your security settings. Look through visionof's section about encryption and relate it to the information you have found. Use WPA, if you don't use any encryption at all most of your neighbours can use your connection. WEP is simple and can be decoded, so use WPA.

Matt

 

Hi
OK I'm back.

I keep loosing the signal to actiontec sometimes she has a connection sometimes she doesn't.
I tried the "repair' but does no good, actiontec is not always on her list as available connections.
The modem and her notebook is only one room away, maybe 30, 40 feet and two walls.
When she does have a connection it says it is a excellent connection.

any ideas?

Thanks
Geri

 

What are the walls made of? Wooden and plasterboard walls aren't too bad, but reinforced concrete can greatly attenuate a wireless signal. Brick and stone lie between the two. Also are the rooms between empty? It's surprising sometimes, how easy it can be to kill a wireless signal.

 

Hi ReggieB

Plasterboard with wood beams.
The modem is right next to the wall in one room the living room seperates the other room, also her notebook is right next to the wall closest to the modem in the other room.

There is really nothing between the two but the plaster walls.

Geri

 

I can't help very much, but maybe one of the others may see something in what I am saying.

Could it be a connection sharing problem? The laptop does not see a Actiontec connection when the desktop is already logged in.

Geri, have a look at Internet Connection Sharing in Help and Support or at the Actiontec website. I use dialup so I cannot guide you very much.

Matt

 

Hi mattman

I'll try that, I thought that could be the case also at one point, but then she would have a connection when I was logged in and also then when I wasn't??

I also brought the lap top into this room, thinking it was being blocked, but even in the same room 10 feet away it could not find the signal.

So I am going to try and disable wireless on the modem, delete the actiontec network on her lap top and start all over again

Can any one tell me just what all I need to delete on her lap top so that there in no trace of that network connection?

Also, there is a clarion network that always shows on her lap top, is that her connection for her lap top?

Geri

 

That is a wireless hardware/configuration setting issue then.

Are you using the utility that came with the wireless card, to manage the network connection, or are you using the inbuilt windows wireless system?

Where are you getting the signal strength readings?

It might be worth closing this thread (your original question has been answered I think) and opening a new post in the Network forum area as there are people who use that forum regularly who may be able to sort this out fairly quickly (For example, I only stumbled on this thread by accident - the General Internet forum isn't one I look in very often).

Start a new thread in the Network forum. State the make and model of your laptop's wireless card (or model of laptop if the wireless function is built into the laptop), the make and model of your modem, and a description of the current problem. It would also be worth stating that the problem is apparent when the two wireless devices are in the same room, so this probably isn't a range or interference problem.

 

Thanks ReggieB

I'll post over there.

Geri

 

It looks like you're getting somewhere now:

http://www.windowsbbs.com/showthread.php?t=59741

Splendid.